Hello besties. I have come to alert you to the presence of something potentially very interesting going on right now in our local Jurassic Park. I do not know how it managed this — I suppose the ability to wander freely with enough time is quite enough — but there is currently a catawampus slinking very low to the ground, creeping steadily about, putting all its feline ancestry on display. Although, I must say the tactics it's using are more reminiscent of a cat warily scouting out an unfamiliar locale than an ambush predator on the hunt, and perhaps that is because this place is entirely new to this beast. It appears to be experiencing difficulties with movement however, mostly due to its fur. If anyone remembers how the initial Questing party found this place, the trail of pinky-white tufts snagged on trees and undergrowth might feel like déjà vu.

Nevertheless, it continues as deep as it can with all the mobility and uncertainty it's got. And if you've ever met the catawampus, or generally just seen it around, you'll probably be surprised by the amount of hesitation it shows in this situation. Personally not even I have taken the beast to be one of great acumen, although one might consider this a form of neuroticism not uncommon in feral creatures. But, hey! Everyone's got a few surprises, and also hopefully basic survival instincts... sometimes. When it counts.

The usual (can we really consider it "usual"?) cacophony of Lacerta lingers in the background as the wary feline-beast prods and prowls forward at the speed of... slow. And sniffy. As in, it is sniffing around for... something. Any presence of life, it seems, is welcome; although what the catawampus may do upon detection is entirely up to whim and fate. And maybe me, but I wouldn't place a bet on that. I don't even know why it's here, I have very little influence on its actions.

The discovery of Fornax was a rather amazing one to Callum. It was similar to Leo in a way, with a large body of water and islands dispersed throughout the cave. Of course, it did have some striking differences. There was no lower part of Fornax that bore a volcano like Leo, and it was much more humid. There was bound to be some difference in the prey that could be found here. He flew over the water, glancing around for food. At times he dipped down to snatch a fish that had swum a bit too close to the surface and within his line of sight. If he ever planned on moving dens, Fornax would be where he would go. He liked this place.
Callum continued flying, slowly filling up his belly, when he reached the far side of Fornax. There was no hesitation as he flew right into the fog and through the entrance in the wall, emerging in Lacerta. The forest here was tropical, and lusher than any place he had ever seen. The dragon landed, wings a bit weary from the long flight across the sea. He rested for a few moments, glancing around the area, when he noticed something peculiar. There was pinkish white fur stuck to the undergrowth, a trail that led into the forest. It seemed familiar in a sense, though he couldn't quite think of why. Oh well, only one way to find out. The trail couldn't be seen from above. Unfortunate. He would have to walk.
Since his pace was faster than the Catawampus, bearing scales instead of fur, it wasn't long before he caught up to the monster. "Oh." Callum says, realizing where he had seen the fur before. This was the creature that had taken his rabbits. "Well. Hello... again." He attempted to make himself seem cool, perhaps a bit more intimidating than he had been at their previous meeting, but it failed. Ah well.

He was doing his favorite thing.

Stalking prey.

Its 'prey' was far bigger than even itself- a massive looming beast that despite it's obvious weight could very well still fly. The most enticing thing, however, was the intelligence it knew that this beast possessed. It could see it in each of it's four eyes. Yes, this would be a most excellent game.

He knew better than to strike without a plan, however. He spent a prolonged time simply following from a distance, simply watching. Absorbing weaknesses and common habits. Anything useful during the hunt.

This turned however, to true curiosity, when it's quarry led it to a place that rivaled it with intrigue- lessers it had never seen before screeched and stomped and sprinted through the undergrowth. He almost wanted to laugh- was his quarry trying to survive by giving him another target? Because it very well might just work.

For now he would stay hidden, lowered into a crouch by a shrub. His woody exoskeleton blended with the undergrowth, of which he was exceedingly greatful for. Watching His Quarry, and the new orange gembound, and the jungle at large. Waiting.

Rex had come to hunt, too.

For him, it was a matter of practicality: this place was his home, and the prey elsewhere was simply too small to fill his stomach. Yes, he could survive out there--but it meant killing several small deer instead of one Benjamin, for example. (He had not yet had the questionable pleasure of running into the meadow 'deer' of Pegasus.)

He was creeping through the brush as best a towering tyrannosaurus could: dappled brown hide half-shadowed by the foliage, his movements catlike in their slowness, when he heard a quiet voice surprisingly close by.

Blinking, he crouched a little, peering down. He hadn't noticed Huntsman, yet--but the brief flash of orange was enough to alert him at least to Callum's presence. And he wouldn't have noticed the creeping Catawampus, despite its size, had Callum's voice not drawn him over.

Rex stepped closer, leaning down. "Hey," he greeted, voice friendly and enthusiastic--if kept quiet. It was good to see others, here, these days. He then peered forward, along the jungle paths, studying the underbrush ahead. He looked to Callum and Catawampus, afterward. "Whatcha guys doin' here?" It was, again, friendly--easygoing, casual. Just a few giant monstrosities in the jungle, that was all--nothing strange about that. But Rex wondered if there was some sort of ongoing adventure he hadn't heard of--another "guardian-of-Lacerta"-kind-of-thing, maybe. And if so, he definitely didn't want to miss out.

Bedlam was, generally speaking, a fan of places like Lacerta.

The dense, foggy jungle provided just the right air of primal mystery to the whole world. When it was in the jungle, it could not be sure where it was. When it was. The jungle consumed it, and it was in the belly of the tropical wilderness. It felt unearthly, like it had transcended beyond mortal limits and become one with the screeches and howls that echoed distantly, with the eyes that peered down from the trees, with the mosses that blanketed every surface.

It reminded the catwhale of its hallucinations deep beneath the surface of the water in this very same room. It reminded the catwhale of magic warping the fabric of reality around it, warping its very own body.

Voices. Ones that spoke words. Bedlam's ears immediately perked up, and it waddled toward the source. What a gathering! Three whole Gembound in one place. (Plus one hiding in the undergrowth, but Bedlam was not very good at noticing hidden things.) It hadn't seen that in a while. "Heyyyy," it grinned, olive-green paws squelching in the mud as it approached. "'Sup, guys? I think we should do something fun together." You know, since they were in the same place and all. "Last time I saw a buncha people gathered like this, there was a real party going on. Time before that we fought a kraken."

It was a bit of a non sequitur of a suggestion, but Bedlam was not concerned with logic. It was concerned with having fun. And the jungle held so many possibilities.

Relic was back in Lacerta, but it wasn't an earthquake that drew her this time. No, just her own wanderings - she had spent her time reflecting on her time with Qflugr, and Bayo and Giggle before that; If she returned to the Bonebound, she wasn't sure what would greet her. But the gnawing feeling of loneliness persisted, and she felt the creeping dread that Relic would have to take the initiative to remedy it (horrifying!).

They knew they weren't alone here; the stray fur tufts told them as much. By the time they had reached them they were still fresh with scent. It'd been cycles since their last visit, but they felt the smell was different this time, more catty. They could hear voices as they drew closer, several - they reached out to their magic, stubborn though it was. And of course, no dice. They couldn't be too annoyed - they couldn't remember the last time it'd actually worked.

They padded into the clearing, offering a nod to those already present (That they could see). Their gaze lingered on Rex, memories stirring. They remembered the hatchling from their last venture, but it was hard to recognise the scraggly little lizard in the block of scale and muscle a couple times their height. He didn't draw their focus too long, and they settled on watching the Catawumpus warily as it snuffled around. What was it looking for?

There wayyyy too many other gembounds here. Not that it was making him nervous. Not at all! Just... several of them competed with him in size, and that was enough for him to want to leave. Although Rex seemed rather chill, Callum was not going to take the risk. Those teeth were BIG okay. Although he really shouldn't be this easily intimidated, it didn't help that Catawampus had proven in Orion that they were an absolute beast. He wouldn't stick around. If he was going to get some hunting done it wouldn't be with others. And they would outshine him too!
"NAH I'm OUTTA here yall have fun." With a second horrible attempt at seeming cool that failed, the dragon flew out of the area. He hoped his exit didn't make him seem like a coward or something...

Khavur had been here for the discovery of this place, but it still wasn't sure of how to approach the foreign island of peculiar beasts. There was no protocol; no familiarity, no directions, no patterns. In this sense, it was freeing. Being here felt productive. Being here felt like training for entering another unfamiliar territory that honestly should have been emblazoned on the front of Khavur's consciousness but he just kept pushing it back but maybe if he was here, this was training, this was coming closer to his goal. Maybe Ursa wasn't on the back burner and he was just scared—no, that would still be bad. Maybe he should shut his massive heads up and start looking around for something else to do with his time.

White fur? A chattering crowd? Interesting. Poke around that. Or perhaps more reasonably, poke around that surrounding area since crowds tend to attract attention and the attention you could get in this zone was not always the desirable sort. Khavur was granted many senses, both magical and physical. Khavur would keep close but turn away from the group so as to ignore the sight of the flowing blood of the entities it could already see. It had no words to offer to explain its presence—only curiosity and the ever-looming sense of running away from something that was not real. They didn't need to know about either part.

Various senses, magickal or otherwise, cast out into Lacerta's depths would be rewarded.

Ahead--far ahead--lingering just beyond the chaotic treeline--there was something going on. The occasional bellow, a stomp that shook the ground, an answering screech and the sound of hefty, flapping wings: there was a battle ongoing!

Perhaps it would be possible to sneak up, and to use the distraction of the fight between... whatever the creatures might be... to take out one, or both, combatants. But first, they'd have to get there unseen.

Khavur's Red Sense would pick out a number of enormous, thudding heartbeats: one high up in the sky, diving down on occasion toward a number of others. These creatures--whatever they were--were out in a steeply-sloped meadow along the volcano's flanks.

---

Gembound are free to attempt to either approach or gather more information from where they are using magic etc. Attempts to move to (or past) the treeline and into the meadow to visibly see what's going on, while remaining unseen, should be rolled for.

@Catawampus (Khavur) @Huntsman @Rex @Bedlam @Relic

After awaiting a response, the tyrannosaur turned and tried to be as stealthy as he could. Crouching wasn't really something his enormous legs were made for, and he had to resort to just walking... as slowly... as he could. He crept, trying to breathe slowly, reminding himself to be one with the trees, dude...
His head slowly slid through the treeline, yellow eyes searching for whatever was going on. It was a cacophony, there was no doubt about that--a big fight, or something, just ahead.

"I'll help you with it," he assured those nearest to him, his voice hushed.

They could hunt together! And share a meal! It'd be nice, like a picnic.

After they dealt with... whatever it was!